Tripled patient appointments without increasing the marketing budget.
WellnessPath was invisible in local search and overpaying for every patient they acquired through ads. We fixed the foundation and turned local search into their most reliable growth channel.
-52%
Cost Per Patient
+210%
Appointment Requests
#1
Local Map Pack
5 months
Time to Results
The Company
Industry
Healthcare: Multi-Specialty Clinic
Location
New Jersey, United States
Monthly Ad Spend (start)
$9,500
Engagement Length
Ongoing (8 months at review)
Services
Local SEO, PPC
A well-run clinic that patients in their own city could not find online.
WellnessPath operated three clinic locations across Northern New Jersey. Referrals kept them steady, but new patient acquisition was entirely dependent on Google Ads at a cost of $186 per patient acquired. The Google Business profiles for all three locations had not been updated in two years. They were ranking on page 3 for their core service terms and not appearing in the local map pack at all. The math was clear: if we could get them into the map pack for high-intent local searches, the cost per patient would drop dramatically and they would no longer be dependent on paid ads for every new booking.
Invisible locally and overpaying for every patient through ads.
Unoptimized Google Business Profiles
All three location profiles had outdated hours, no service descriptions, zero posts in 18 months, and fewer than 12 photos each. Profiles were categorized too broadly, limiting relevance for specific procedure searches.
Inconsistent NAP Data
Name, address, and phone number were inconsistent across 60+ local directories. Some listings had old addresses, others had incorrect phone numbers. Google uses citation consistency as a trust signal. Inconsistency was actively hurting rankings.
No Location-Specific Pages
The website had a single Locations page listing all three clinics. No individual location pages optimized for local keywords. Google had no page to rank for 'physical therapy [city name]' because that page did not exist.
Weak Review Profile
Average of 14 reviews per location with a 3.9 average rating. Competitors in the area had 80-200 reviews at 4.6+. In healthcare local search, review volume and recency are among the strongest map pack ranking signals.
PPC Waste on Broad Terms
Ad campaigns were running on broad match keywords like 'doctor near me' and 'health clinic', generating clicks from people searching for completely different specialties. 40% of spend was on irrelevant queries.
No Appointment Tracking
Conversions in Google Ads were tracked as 'website visits', not actual appointment requests or calls. Budget optimization was running on a signal that had nothing to do with patient acquisition.
Build local authority. Fix ad tracking. Let compound growth take over.
01
Week 1-2
Google Business Profile Overhaul
Fully rebuilt all three GBP listings. Updated categories to specific service types. Added 40+ photos per location, wrote 500-word service descriptions, set up weekly posting schedule. Enabled appointment booking directly through the profile.
02
Week 2-4
Citation Cleanup and Local Directory Build
Audited all existing citations across 80 directories. Corrected NAP inconsistencies across every listing. Built fresh citations on 35 high-authority healthcare directories including Healthgrades, ZocDoc, and WebMD.
03
Month 1-2
Location Page Build
Created dedicated, fully-optimized landing pages for each of the 3 clinic locations. Each page targeted the specific city and surrounding zip codes with localized content, embedded Google Maps, staff bios, accepted insurance, and service-specific information.
04
Month 1-2
Review Generation System
Implemented a text-based review request sequence triggered 48 hours after each appointment. Within 60 days, review volume tripled across all three locations and average rating improved from 3.9 to 4.7.
05
Month 2
PPC Restructure with Real Conversion Tracking
Rebuilt all campaigns around specific service keywords. Set up call tracking, form submission tracking, and appointment booking tracking as primary conversions. Moved to Target CPA bidding on actual patient acquisition events.
Tripled appointments. Halved acquisition cost.
-52%
Cost Per Patient
$186 to $89
+210%
Monthly Appointments
Organic requests
#1
Map Pack
All 3 locations
4.7
Avg Rating
Up from 3.9
Additional wins
Review count grew from 14 to 120+ per location
GBP profile views up 380% across all locations
Organic appointment requests now exceed paid volume
Insurance verification calls reduced via GBP info updates
PPC waste on irrelevant queries eliminated entirely
Milestones
Month 1: GBP profiles fully rebuilt, citations corrected
Month 2: First two locations enter map pack top 3
Month 3: Appointment requests up 90% vs baseline
Month 4: Cost per patient drops below $120 for first time
Month 5: All 3 locations ranking #1 in map pack
“Patient acquisition cost dropped from $186 to $89. That is a direct improvement to our clinic's financial model, and it happened faster than we expected. We are now turning away patients because we are fully booked.”
— Dr. P. Singh, Clinic Director, WellnessPath